Last Night At School Committee

Last night’s meeting was a long one, lasting just over four hours. The main agenda item of the night was a recap of the new contract agreed to between the Boston Teachers’ Union (BTU) and the district. Before this recap, the Superintendent gave a lengthy update on happenings in the district, which included a note about a new transportation policy. While this was not an agenda item, the district di...

Last night’s meeting lasted three hours, and it centered on two main topics: Boston emerging from the State Improvement Plan (SIP) and the vote on the FY26 budget. The meeting began with Chair Robinson recapping major news from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) board meeting on Tuesday. In short, DESE announced that the SIP, which expires in June, would not be renewed by...

Last night’s meeting lasted around five hours, hitting on many important topics. Before the official meeting, the School Committee hosted its third and final budget hearing for the FY26 budget. The Superintendent and her team answered questions from School Committee members, including inquiries about the role of federal funding in the budget, how long-term goals are achieved in the budget, and the...

Last night’s meeting was a jam packed meeting covering many important topics. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where she provided an extremely brief update on transformation schools. This update is a requirement as part of the district’s Systemic Improvement Plan with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and usually provides insights and data about some of the l...

Last night’s meeting was full of reports and initiated the kickoff to the FY26 budget process. After a short Superintendent’s report and lengthy public comment period, the committee voted for a minor revision on the revised exam school admissions policy, which reduces the number of tiers from eight to four, with each tier receiving an equal allocation of invitations. The School Committee has voted...

Last night’s meeting was the first meeting of 2025, and the majority of the meeting was spent discussing the district’s facilities plans. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where she discussed the district’s commitment to supporting all students in wake of federal immigration policy. Following a short report on a proposal to amend the bell schedule at UP Academy Dorchester, the me...

Last night’s School Committee meeting was the last meeting of the year, touching on some of the most discussed topics this past year. This was the first meeting following Mayor Wu’s announcement regarding the reappointment of Vice Chair Michael O’Neill to his seat, after the conclusion of a public nomination process that saw numerous candidates apply. The meeting began with public comment, as the...

In today’s episode of Deep Dives, we’re excited to explore an educational program making a significant impact in Boston: the Alexander Twilight Academy. Named after the first African American college graduate in the U.S., this academy is designed to help students from underrepresented backgrounds in Boston achieve their full potential. Ross is joined by Annie Weinberg, the founder and school leade...

Last night’s School Committee meeting was focused on hiring and transportation. The meeting began with public comment, after Chair Robinson announced that there would be no Superintendent’s Report. Public comment featured a little less than 50 testimonies, with the majority of speakers members of the Boston Teachers Union advocating for a fair contract and working conditions. Over the past few mon...

In May of 2019, Jill had the chance to talk with Paul Reville, a key architect and advocate for MassCore, about topics that are key to understanding the intentions and context for this policy, such as: The role of globalization and the standards movement in the crafting of the MassCore policy; How and why the state viewed it through a lens of educational equity; Why it was a recommended—rather tha...

Last night’s School Committee meeting was focused on MassCore and graduation requirements, a timely topic following the passage of ballot Question 2 ending the use of MCAS as a state graduation requirement. The Superintendent also spent time talking about transportation, which reached 95% on-time arrival but still only 85% on time performance for afternoon buses. There was no mention, however, of...

Last night’s meeting focused primarily on transformation schools with a required quarterly update as part of the district’s systemic improvement plan put in place by the Department of ELementary and Secondary Education. The meeting began with Deputy Superintendent Linda Chen, standing in for the Superintendent, highlighting bright spots and providing an update on a still struggling transportation...

Last night’s meeting focused primarily on MCAS results and achievement. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where the Superintendent provided an update on transportation. While the district has been making improvements week over week, the district’s average on time performance was just 78% for afternoon buses. This low performance continues to lag behind the district’s on time perf...

Last night’s meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report including a discussion of the recent release of MCAS results, which continue to show a lack of improvement in achievement since the pandemic. Even with hundreds of millions of dollars of federal relief funding and expansion of tutoring and literacy programs, the district’s MCAS results show concerning trends, with only 27% of students mee...

Last night’s meeting was the first since school began last week for BPS. The primary focus of the Superintendent report, and the ensuing discussion with School Committee members, was the district’s transportation challenges. Over the past week, transportation issues have dominated the news, with reports indicating that  nearly two-thirds of buses were late to school , marking the lowest on-time ar...

Last night’s meeting was the last meeting before Boston opens schools next week. The Superintendent spent the majority of the Superintendent’s Report providing key back to school updates. While the School Committee usually has received a separate full report in years past, the Superintendent listed key promising updates including 95% of hiring complete.  The School Committee’s main vote of the eve...

** We want to hear from you! Please fill out this quick survey to provide feedback about our podcasts ** As we head into a new school year, schools and families across the country are grappling with significant challenges, from teacher shortages to enrollment fluctuations and the integration of new technologies. Today, we're focusing on these key issues by taking a close look at the largest school...

** We want to hear from you! Please fill out this quick survey to provide feedback about our podcasts ** Last night’s meeting was a special scheduled meeting, with the School Committee sharing their summative evaluation of the Superintendent’s performance. The meeting began with the Superintendent presenting her self-evaluation . The Superintendent’s evaluation consisted of many topics and moves t...

The Boston School Committee held a shorter-than-normal meeting last night. The meeting began with the Superintendent's Report, which provided updates on summer learning, announced new technology for school buses, and presented the quarterly update on Transformation Schools. The Superintendent noted that Transformation Schools are seeing similar growth and chronic absenteeism rates as other schools...

Last night’s meeting was the last school committee meeting of the school year, with a scheduled vote to close the Lilla Frederick Middle School and close and consolidate the West Zone Early Learning Center with the Hennigan School, and a report from the school committee’s student representative. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, with Superintendent Skipper highlighting a number o...

In today’s episode, Jill is joined by Dr. Jill Walsh. She is a sociologist and researcher at Boston University, and specializes in the impact of technology and social media on adolescent development. Dr. Walsh is also the founder of Digital Aged, through which she works with schools and families to give them the tools to help young people navigate the online world.  Jill and Dr. Walsh discuss how...

Last night’s meeting lasted about four and a half hours, and touched on numerous subjects. The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where Superintendent Skipper spent most of the time discussing the negotiations with the Boston Teachers Union. The Superintendent noted that she hopes to have a deal by the end of the month, and that negotiations were going smoothly. However, numerous BTU...

Standardized testing has long been a cornerstone in educational systems, serving as a tool for measuring student achievement and influencing decisions at every level of schooling. Supporters see standardized tests as essential for maintaining accountability and providing clear metrics for comparison across educational landscapes. However, many have called for moving away from standardized tests, w...

Last night’s meeting was long anticipated as the meeting where BPS would begin to actualize the actions of their long term facilities plan by announcing a comprehensive list of school closures, mergers and consolidations, but this was not the case.  The meeting began with the Superintendent’s Report, where she discussed a recent update she gave to the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Educat...

Last week, Jill and Ross hosted a live podcast recording at the University Club in Boston, MA, with College Uncovered co-hosts Jon Marcus and Kirk Carapezza. Jon is a higher education editor for The Hechinger Report, and Kirk is the managing editor and correspondent for higher education at GBH News. Their podcast, College Uncovered, helps families and students navigate higher education and underst...